We’ve reached the end of our 2012 highlights and with a rollercoaster of a year behind us the most satisfying thing has been being part of it all.
We’ve seen a particularly solid year in the quality of the Comic Books being released and that’s between both the big two of Marvel & DC through to IDW, Image, Dynamite, etc and especially the Indie/Self published which has raised the bar even further. There was the added bonus of some significant releases in the movie world too and although I have mixed feelings towards some of them there is no argument that they pushed the comic book genre further into the mainstream.
Avengers Assemble from Joss Whedon closed out Marvel’s Phase one releases with style and it became worthy of its blockbuster status with ease. Dredd surprised us all with its gritty, unrelenting pace & violence which made it all the more disappointing that it had a poor performance at the box office…..it was probably the most entertaining of this year’s releases for me making sure I’ll be grabbing it on Blu-Ray this January. Chris Nolan closed out his trilogy with Dark Knight Rises and although I have my issues with it, there is a definite feeling from the masses that this placed highly on their list of 2012 hits. Amazing Spider-Man saw the franchise get a reboot with a fairly luke-warm response to it, an origin story we pretty much had seen from the Sam Raimi run but there’s high hopes the sequel(s) will build on the factors that DID work.
TV-wise we had the Walking Dead continue to earn praise with a strong second season ( although there’s a fair few people on the fence about that success). We also saw Arrow being released taking the Green Arrow character from DC and making it more accessible for the masses in a similar way that they did with Smallville – albeit slightly darker I think it’s been a good start and hope for more.
Even with those Movie & TV releases behind us and many more promised in 2013, it was the comics that entertained. A much more varied exposure to the types of stories that can be told in comic book form has seen the Comics Anonymous gang caught in the difficult place of where the hell to start with the titles they review. Superhero stories still manage to take centre-stage but with the likes of Image, IDW and more taking the plunge to bring us more horror, thriller & drama – we’re now spoiled for choice in each one of those categories.
The big two of DC & Marvel have maintained a high share of the market but they’ve backed that up with some perfectly placed creative teams and there are more and more of their titles that I’m now adding into my regular pull-list. It makes the weekly pick-up more exciting but makes the review pile grow quicker…..but we’ve managed to maintain a fairly consistent run of reviews and maybe sparked up at least some conversations along the way – mission accomplished. The step-up in the move from print to digital seemed to slip into 2nd gear this year too and the benefits and ease at which titles are becoming available will surely see that increase over the coming year(s) – I’m still old skool though and you can’t beat a new issue in your hand 😀
The Blog itself has grown over the year too as the members are being recognized based on their Comics Anonymous t-shirts, key rings & flyers……..not exactly our 15 minutes of fame or a household name….but we’ll add to that in 2013 for sure. At the end of the day, we’re not in this for the money or the glory – we just love comics and anything comic related. The difference this year though, has been how accepted that has become. Geeks may well talk about comics fairly regularly but there’s been a definite shift in mood from the less regular readers. General discussions about comics have definitely lost that under-current of “You’re too old for comics” or the “Get a life” vibe and had a much more accepted status given the mainstream places the comic book stories & themes have turned up. Roll-on 2013 with its promise of more movies & more comics of a growing high quality and we’ll hopefully get the chance to spread the word about the indie titles that will surely surprise us along the way.
Merry Christmas & all the best for 2013.
G-Man
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